Marco (Armenian) 4 banners, 29 Blocks Lost
Travis (Roman) 7 banners, 26 Blocks Lost
A long-awaited game one lived up to the hype. Some dramatic momentum shifts that make this game great happened to both sides, in a very even fight right up until the end with a couple of lead changes.
I would say that the Armenians need to do some damage with their ranged units to have a chance in this one, and Marco's dice were true early on, scoring 7 hits on my outclassed light units and gobbling one up with a cavalry advance on my left to take a quick 1-0 lead. I had the cards to move everyone forward, and after three line command cards were played between the two of us, I hastily moved some right-flank infantry forward to menace his weaker left flank. Although initially somewhat of a bluff, this paid benefits later on....
I was forced by his cavalry advance to consolidate exposed units in the center, and he responded with first an infantry assault, and then a cavalry assault on the center, with mixed results. With the score 3-1 in his favor and forced to plug the holes in my line with the heavy infantry, Marco made another well-planned cavalry assault that didn't get the dice results, and I was able to first counterattack and take a 4-3 lead, then luckily drew a Light card that allowed me to eliminate two of his units at the map's edge for a 6-4 lead. He counterattacked but I was able to eliminate an Aux with a 4-hit battle-back to finish the game. Eagerly anticipating game two against an excellent opponent.
